We caught up with McKay Hawkes to discuss a recent project he did for Kensington Computer Products Group using modo.

Lux: What was your goal for this project?

MH: I really wanted to impress upon the client that 3D was a more viable solution for interactive content than traditional media. Traditionally, experience in the advertising industry has shown achieving the kind of results that would compare with traditional photographic methods is usually cost and time prohibitive. I would say that I agree with that general notion as from what I have seen it is very difficult to achieve convincing results in 3D. Only a few very high-end facilities with massive render farms and a team of specialized 3D artists and programmers could achieve photographic quality results. That means that only the campaigns with the biggest budgets can afford this caliber of work. Automotive campaigns for example…

As a smaller production facility and in some cases… acting as a single artist, achieving inspiring photorealistic 3D in a way that is economically competitive has been near impossible. My experience in using modo and seeing the stunning quality photorealism has changed that in my mind. For once, I have discovered a software tool that can be used to achieve studio quality results without the prohibitive equipment expenses and overhead of a steep learning curve. Of course the onset of multi-core computers and massive speed increases has helped make this more viable from a hardware standpoint. But truly revolutionary advancements are usually achieved by a combination of software and hardware. I think Luxology is filling the software niche rather nicely.

Given this expectation of print advertisers, many times we really don't have the luxury of just making something look good or believable…we have to match a real world product as closely as possible. In the 3D workflow, instead of just breaking down an image to its RGB or CMYK color values, we actually have to look at the exact way light interacts with the product. We need to closely observe and replicate things like diffuse, spectrality, reflection, fresnel, index refraction, subsurface scattering, absorption distance, and transparency to create convincing and accurate photorealistic qualities. This is before we even get into displacement mapping for textures and other various details… It can really be a challenging process.

In the end, it usually boils down to a lot of trial and error. That is where the flexibility of the shader tree in modo becomes so critical. Quick, intuitive, and predictable adjustments to materials in a scene is sublimely important to an efficient workflow. I found that that modo's shader tree, along with multi-pass rendering and node based compositing proved the key to efficient shader generation.

Lux: What was the trickiest part of the project?

MH: Because I am so ingrained in photographic work, I use Photoshop constantly. That is usually where the magic happens and it is totally second nature for me. But as I said, for this project going from a small series of hi-res print images to video sequences with potentially thousands of frames presented entirely new challenges. When the output involves that many frames, working the images in Photoshop is no longer a viable production method. So whatever happens, it has to happen in the 3D or in the compositing world. To me this was akin to tying my shoelaces together and telling me to run a marathon! For a while it wasn't pretty to watch. So I found the trickiest aspect was in accomplishing the entire piece in 3D from beginning to end without "cheating" in Photoshop more than any specific part.

This is one reason that I really appreciate modo. With so many different disciplines in the 3D world it can seem rather daunting to produce anything as an individual. But modo's user interface is much more streamlined and predictable than any other 3D app I have used. It makes transitioning from the various disciplines relatively smooth. I don't think it will ever be “easy” – but it is much more intuitive. This is what I think modo excels at… making things work in a way that is predictable and familiar, and even enjoyable. So you can tackle these separate disciplines with much more confidence, and with a shorter learning curve.

Lux: Tell us how the client liked the work…

MH: I am happy to say, by all accounts the client was very pleased with the visual accuracy and quality of the renders. My industry is full of perfectionists… people (including myself) who spend way too much time dwelling over the smallest details. My entire livelihood is based on achieving the illusive “ideal.” There is always something more to do to make it better, something that will give the image more accuracy, more impact, more emotional draw, more… whatever. Usually though, time and budget constraints, and sometimes even attention spans dictate when something is "done".

For this project though, the client really did not have to settle, and they actually got something better that they thought possible considering our budget and time constraints. It always does one's reputation well to come in on time, within budget, and exceeding expectations.

Lux: What initially attracted you to modo?

MH: What first got my attention with modo was the stunning render engine, because, as I said, in the print advertising industry nothing less than true photographic quality is acceptable. So that was my initial draw, but once I got into the program and played around with modo's interface I noticed it was very refined and most things seemed to work in a predictable matter. I found that I was just able to do much more, much quicker… and achieve quality results that are competitive with other methods. After a brief learning curve, I felt like I could focus much more on the creative process than having to battle the technical demands of 3D. All in all, working in modo is really a much more rewarding experience than any other 3D application I have used.

Lux: Thank you for your time and for sharing your insight!